Show america girds for still greater effort As pearl harbor anniversary nears A review of bf outstanding engagements of of our Count rys first year at war by CHARLES A released by bi western newspaper News poper union with the approach of december 7 the date of infamy americans everywhere will reaffirm their determination to work fight and sacrifice to win the war and spend a little time in retrospect no attempt will be made here to give an overall picture of what has happened during this fateful year but rather a review of some of the great battles in which american forces have been engaged without difficulty we recall fateful sunday afternoon when over a radio suddenly gone wild the shocking and bewildering came in pearl harbor had been attacked attack edl people could hardly believe it but it was true the next day the united states declared war on japan and on december 18 16 war was declared on japans partners in crime germany and italy since then mani many thousands of brave american boys have been wrapped in the nag bag they loved ou on have found a last resting place beneath the oceans swell these men have illuminated the pages of american history with deeds as bright ins as the orange flash of a cruisers guns fall of wake island all ali will remember with reverence the epic of wake island when a handful of V U S marines marooned on a tiny atoll in the southwest pacific made history in courage on this occasion a heroic garrison of less than marines defended wake island against a powerful japanese attacking force fro from m december 2 to 22 until they w were ere overwhelmed by sheer numbers with a dated planes and a gun eua or two our boys sank seven jap warships one cruiser four destroyers st one submarine and one gunboat fall of bataan the next staggering shock of the war was them fau af manila and the U S naval base of cavite in the philippines america took heart though when it learned of the magnificent ent defense which was put up by U S and fi fillipino Fill I 1 pino troops in the rugged terrain of bataan peninsula under the leadership of gen douglas macarthur As it was impossible to get reinforcements through the japanese naval the philippines bataan appeared doomed we recall that in Bata ans darkest hour macarthur was spirit 1 ed out of the islands in a remarkable undercover dash to australia by the mosquito boat hero of bay john D bulkeley gen jonathan wainwright took over on bataan wainwright the stony faced general whom the boys loved as much as macarthur lacking food heavy guns planes and tanks and facing an overwhelming wh superiority in enemy forces Waln Wain wrights men were vere finally overwhelmed by jap forces estimated at on april 9 long after the guns on bataan ceased firing the guns of corregidor Wain wrights rock kept fir in modern 0 dern navys aircraft carrier operations erat ions went to the bottom this happened on may 7 the destruction of a japanese armada some hundreds of miles off midway island on june 4 and 5 was another action of the same kind in this engagement U S army bombers roared off from rom their bases on midway island just another doton dot on the pacific to meet the most formidable array of warships chit that imperial japan ever sent steaming against a foe the armada was put to complete rout the carrier yorktown was lost in the battle ot of midway it went to the bottom on june 7 in the final phases of the great sea air battle but before the grand old Y went down she catapulted from her flight 4 0 1 IV U 4 41 I 1 1 4 mal official U S navy photo showing wreckage of the battleship arizona after the japanese raid on pearl harbor ing wainwright Waln wright and some of his men had fortunately enough succeeded in getting on the rock before bataan tell fell completely cut off from reinforcements and heavily outnumbered corregidor surrendered to the japs on may 6 wainwright and his hie gallant band are now presumed to be prisoners of the japs battle of java sea the battle 0 of f the java sea began february 27 when the allied fleet attacked the superior japanese fleet off the netherlands east indies in this engagements united nations warships totaling tons were lost in a s set er ic acs a of e engagements n gage ments lasting from february 27 to march 1 included in the U S losses was the ton cruiser houston and the 1193 ton destroyer pope the allies lost all five cruisers which participated in the action these losses were hard to take but america began to smile again to in fact it howled with delight when the big bigness news broke that brig gen james jimmy doolittle famous speed flier and world war I 1 ace had dropped plenty of eggs over tokyo with a squad squadron roti of f north cission Ois american B that mission m sion was fulfilled on april 18 a and n d it went over big both her here in america and in tokyo first real victory of war in the battle of that island studded ocean known as the coral sea which is near the solomon islands and about 1000 miles northeast of australia americas first real victory of the war with japan was scored the action occurred on may 4 and called forth deeds of valor as thrilling as any in all american history the coral sea battle was the first great naval defeat ever dealt the imperial japanese fleets and yet this great battle was ought fought entirely in the air by the planes of opposing aar aircraft raft carriers the ships engaged in this battle never got sight of 0 each other they slugged it out without firing a single gun at another ship the first engagement ga of its kind in history in friis this first great victory tor for the U S I 1 in this global war tile the japs lost more than 15 ships sunk and at least 20 others severely damaged the action ac tion perhaps saved australia from invasion however america paid a price for her victory in the sultry coral sea in this engagement the foot a aircraft carrier lexington famed ship that laid the foundation for our deck the dive bombers fighters and torpedo planes that swung the tide ot of battle in favor of old glory A heavy toll ot of jap ships was taken japs invade Al aleatia Aleut eutia lans early in june after bombing dutch harbor in alaska jap forces I 1 invaded several of the aleutian islands in the north pacific they made their main stronghold kiska and evidently believed that the everlasting togs fogs that shroud these islands would be their protection but uncle sam was up there too and soon the fleets heavy guns catalina plying flying boats B and B flying fortresses and liberators began bombing and blasting them out on august 8 a U S navy task force consisting of a great concentration of cruisers and destroyers glided through the aleutian fogs togs almost to 14 J ll 11 I 1 I 1 I 1 when major ge general wainwright hero saw that defeat was inevitable he said ill stay w with ith my men and he be did general wainwright shown above la Is now a prisoner of the japs the very guns of the invaders and hurled tons of TNT and steel into jap shipping and shore installations in kiska harbor in the battle battie of kiska only one observation plane was lost not as much as a machine gun bullet hit bit the fleet since that time the japs have pulled out of the alet Aleut lans with the exception of kiska their main stronghold and the united states has strengthened its position against them by occupation of the andreands Andrean df group of the aleutians Aleut lans ians much closer to jap held kiska old glory hoisted in solomons on the very day when the japs in kiska took such a pounding from U S forces exactly eight months to the day after pearl harbor old glory was hoisted by U US S marines over the first territory taken back from the japs this glorious glor lous event took place on the mountainous island of guadalcanal Guadal canal key to the solomon islands in the southwest pacific this mile long island lies athwart the strategic route to australla australia the japs had fiad labored long in hacking an airfield out of the tropical wilderness of guadalcanal Guadal canal the marines took it away from them and there has been a continuing day and night battle tor for possession of the airfield ever since in their efforts to recover this vital airfield henderson field and the key island the japs caps have risked placing the main force of their navy within range of macarthurs Mac Arthurs deadly flying fortresses and the forts that roar up oil off of henderson field we have lost some fine ships in the region of guadalcanal Guadal canal but losses on the island have been light compared to what the japs have lost according to navy reports their losses run four or five times as heavy as ours however there has been a running battle tor for continued possession of the island on the part of the U S and for repossession possession re on part of the japs day and night the pounding goes on from sea and sky but the marines backed by the army and navy have hung on and have made some gains A real showdown show down between 1 S and jap forces in the solomons came about in mid november when the greatest naval battle since jutland in 1916 was fought supported by macarthurs Mac Arthurs big bombers the navy in a three day running battle smashed a tremendous enemy armada lifting the immediate threat to U S positions on guadalcanal Guadal canal As we pause to remember pearl harbor we m must to get the overall picture have in mind the heroic work of U S air pilots over china and U S air pilots co operating cooperating with the royal air force in almost daily or nightly operations over hillers Hit lers re reich ch ind and over what was known as occupied france we must remember the fine work done by american troops in operation cooperation co operate on with australians who have pushed back the japs jap a in new guinea turning the tide of battle in the owen stanley mountains saving port moresby and helping to remove the threat from australia day by day through all the months this has been 90 going ing on brave men dy dying ing wh while lie we take time out to read about it opening of the he second front things carne came to a head in the african desert early in november thousands of american boys tank men and aviators participated in the great push of the british eighth army arms against gen erwin brommels Rom mels afrika korps which at one time was dangerously close to the suez canal one of britaina Brit ains darkest hours swiftly on the heels of this battle which became a rout as british forces broke through the el ala mein une line america got the world shaking news of the opening of the long expected second front at an unexpected acted spot in north africa on saturday november 7 ali ah weve forgotten for the moment that raid on Dieppe in occupied france that dangerous costly raid last august when american rangers were the first actual units mits to participate in land operations on the continent during this war the dieppe raid was not only a re ra hearsay for the second front but also a red herring drawn aerosol across the bloody nazi trail thi the dieppe raid was the foundation of the magnificent success with which the in north africa was launched under the brilliant leader gen dwight eisenhower Elsen hower |